Lincoln Center

A couple of weekends ago I went home to Huntsville to see one of my very close friends play the lead in the musical "The Last Five Years".  It was done by a smaller theater group in Huntsville called, Renaissance Theater. I had never been to see a show put on by this group and had no clue which theater they were in. When I got there I was in for a real treat. This group had restored the old Lincoln Center and was now using it for their theater productions.

The Lincoln Center is located very close to downtown Huntsville near the old Lincoln Mill. This whole area of Huntsville was very popular in the 1920s when this mill was an active spinning mill. A whole community was formed around the mill. During this time employees were payed low wages but given low cost housing which the mill built and provided. This whole area around the mill became know as Lincoln Village. The workers live in the houses, their children attended Lincoln Elementary and they went to the barber and ate at the cafe in Lincoln Center. And upstairs in the Lincoln Center was a gymnasium which served as the school of the south.  In 1928 though they renovated the upstairs, since they didnt need the school, with the addition of Lincoln Elementary School.  They added a beautiful double stair case and the foyer and turn the gymnasium into a theater where they first silent film was shown for the mill workers.

People have finally taken an interest again in this area and people are starting to renovate all the houses and historic buildings. The beautiful foyer still exists and now the theater shows live theatrical shows from Renaissance Theater and now there are cute shops downs stairs. The shows was amazing, but it was even better seeing it in this old historic building. The mill played such a huge part in Huntsville growth and I think it is fabulous that communities have started to take notice of these buildings and this area. Hopefully one day it was all be renovated and again become an popular place in Huntsville.